jed1894

I'm about to put a C shim in my SBE, but I only have a locking plate that says "B DX." I guess they make one that says C DX, but I don't have one. I don't see the harm in leaving the B locking plate there with the C shim.......do you? Jed

No problems with my M2 and Rios. With the load you are shooting, you should not have a "break-in" issue. That's a heavy load. I've always heard good things about Rios (I shoot them on regular basis). However, if the M2 shoots all shells okay, then you may have a bad batch. I'd try some different brands before I started trying to fix things. You might want to take a look at the mag tube and made sure nothing is jammed up in there. jed

I have an American SBEII that only came with the "B" shim. 1. Does anyone have a "C" shim laying around they want to part with?

Regarding serial number. Get the number and call Benelli. They should be able to tell you what you need to know.

In my opinion, wear spots do not always mean problems. It might be a good thing. Wear spots could come from how the previous owner loaded or unloaded the gun. You should see wear marks from where the shell comes from the mag tube and then into the chamber (all normal of course). You might see some ejection marks around the ejection port. This is normal to a certain extent. Where you are going to get the problems on a used gun is the recoil spring, the mag spring, the mag follower and possibly a bent recoil tube from someone trying the change out the recoil spring. The carrier latch may be bent or damaged if someone has been yanking out the trigger group without holding the latch button. Other than the recoil tube, all of these items are cheap. I don't think you can tell if a gun is going to be problems with wear spots on the receiver of a used gun. This is what I do when I buy a used shotgun: 1. Take it out and fire it 3 times as fast as you can fire it. Run about 3 or 4 series like this. Better yet, run a whole box shooting 3 shots at a time. 2. If they don't let you do this (above), ask for a week warranty or something. Benelli will probably fix the problem free anyway. 3. Check the recoil tube and see if it's bent. 4. Ask for the previous owner's name (doubt you'll get this one--depending on where you buying it from), but you can ask. 5. Look at the carrier latch spring pin (the hole) and see if it's damaged or marked up. If so, someone has replaced the carrier latch trying to fix something. 6. See if the mag follower is plastic or alumium. Plastic one should be replaced. The last thing I would do is just break down the gun on the counter. The final thing I would consider is just buying a new one. These used SBEs are selling for near the cost of a new one. Unless you are getting it for about half price of a new one, I would get the new one with the warranty. The American is around $1000 or so. Good luck. jed

I got one for X-mas. All other guns on the gun rack now. Wait to you clean it.....I thought the M2 was easy. jed

Not sure how old your gun is, but I would just call Benelli and let them send you another trigger assy. Problem solved. They may even swap you out if the gun is out of warranty. I did the same thing on an M2.......If I remember correctly, they held my credit card number until they received the old trigger assy back. If you try to bend it (like Tucker said), I would get another friend's SBE and match it up good. jed

Sorry if I can across as a smart A......you will have to re-mark the chokes after you clean them. The gun oil will remove the Sharpe marks. Limbsavers should cost around $40 for that gun. Make sure you tell them it's for a CT stock so you will get the adapter plate that goes inside the stock. As far as gun experience. The SBE is probably not the best gun to start with if you have no experience. Some, I have heard, will not cycle light loads well. Although mine will cycle anything I put in it so do not. Don't give up....you have all the gun you'll ever need. When you hunt and/or shoot clay, you will not notice the recoil as much. However, if you are out pattern testing or just shooting cans, you will notice recoil much, much more. Good luck. jed

I'm sure Benelli and Briley are still laughing at your email/letter if this is not a joke....I'll play along anyway. Solution: 1. Use reading glasses or look at the notches for the chokes (that's what I do); you could color code them yourself (use sharpe); sell them to someone who can read them. 2. Regarding Gel pad, trade someone for a Limbsaver or just buy one. That's what about 50% of the people do. But, I assure you that will not affect the recoil very much. 3. Regarding recoil, you are going to just have to man up or sell the gun. The gun is made to shoot the largest shell. You could buy one of those cute little pads for your shoulder. I got my wife one and she seems to like it; you could trade it for 410 or 20 gauge. But seriously.....did you research the gun before you bought it? Did you read any threads about the gun? Have you shot much? What kind of hunting/shooting you going to do with the gun? If you bought this gun to target practice, then you are going to have problems. It's a duck gun and made to shoot such. Try it while actually hunting and you will not notice the recoil as much.

Not correct. The gun is not made solely for Dicks. Bass Pro, Academy, Cabelas and all local authorized Benelli dealers can get the same gun. All they have to do is call and order one (that's my dealer did for me). My local Benelli dealer has a rack full of them now. However, he can't touch the Dicks price of $799. Since Dicks orders so many, they can get the gun cheaper, I guess, and sell for less. It's called the "American." The "American" does not have a comfort tech stock.

You can go to gunbroker.com and ebay and search for "benelli stock" and you should get some results. The M2 stock will work as well (or so it says). If you call Benelli they will probably refer you to Brownells, which is sometimes a waste of time (depending on who you get on the phone). You didn't say how old your gun was, but I've never seen a wooden SBE stock. Good luck. jed

Are you talking about the recoil pad or the comb? Water has never affected my recoil pad, but the comb is another issue. Water or oil hit mine and deformed it a little (still don't exactly what caused it). Benelli sent me another one.

My lovely wife got me the SBEII American (camo) from Dicks. My life is complete.

I have M2 CT, M2 American and SBEII American. Unless you want to show off your CT stock, get the American. I've already replaced the comb on my American because of water or something seeping into it. I tried to get Benelli to swap me out an American stock but they would only sway a CT stock (go figure). No difference in recoil either, in my opinion. You can add a CT stock for around $200 later on if you like. Everything else is the same (except two more chokes you'll probably never use). Happy shooting. jed

Before you sand, you may want to loosen up the stock retaining nut and see if the shim is out of place. It should fit into small holes and be flush all the way around. jed